finally dips his toe into the world of Aeronef.
Army Builder V3.0
Army Builder V3.0 is officially in development and due for release in late 2004. All the critical details regarding V3.0 are outlined below. If you have questions that aren't answered below, please send them to us at ab3@wolflair.com.
Planned Release Date:
Fall 2004
Price Details
MSRP $39.99 USD (no change) – includes one year of free updates
Product Purchased After May 1, 2004
Users who purchase Army Builder V2.x on or after May 1, 2004 will receive a free upgrade to V3.0. Product currently shipping to distributors includes a V3.0 upgrade certificate. Users who purchase V2.x boxed product without a certificate can obtain one by sending us a dated copy of the sales receipt and the original box bottom that includes the UPC code. Users who purchase online via our website will be in our database and will be automatically issued V3.0 licenses when it is released.
Upgrade Details
Existing Army Builder V2.x users can upgrade to V3.0 at a 50% discount of $20 USD. This upgrade applies to both registered users and CD owners.
Development Status
Development is well underway, with most features demonstrated at KublaCon 2004 over Memorial Day weekend. Beta testing is expected to begin over the summer.
What's New in Army Builder V3.0
V3.0 is a complete rewrite from the ground up of both the engine and user-interface. All the functionality you've come to expect is retained, and significant new capabilities are being added. New features include the following...
- Flexible Rulesets – Mix and match army construction rules to form complex rulesets that model virtually any combination of rules a publisher can come up with. Change the selected rules "on the fly", and your roster is automatically re-validated.
- Stylized Data – Data file authors can embed graphics and icons within text to more closely reflect a particular game. Stylized text (e.g. bold, italic, etc.) can also be used by authors to enhance the usability of data files.
- Hot Zones – Use of hot zones allows authors to include descriptions of special abilities and other aspects within data files. Hot zones are mouse-sensitive areas that display the corresponding descriptions when clicked.
- Fully Configurable UI – Change the columns shown and their widths. Take advantage of higher resolution displays to show more information, or simply tailor the display to your personal tastes. Save named views to quickly switch between common settings.
- Filter and Sort Units – Instantly sort the list of available units by clicking on a column header. Filter the available units on any criteria, from the simple (e.g. all fast attack units) to the complex (e.g. all units with special ability X that cost less than Y points).
- Roster Tree View – Rosters now use a tree view, much like Windows Explorer. Expand and collapse any level to see exactly what you want, when you want it.
- Group Units Into 'Squads' – Combine separate units visually into 'squads', which are validated to ensure the groupings are legal. Move units between squads with drag-and-drop simplicity.
- Option Grouping – Options are now grouped, with tabs to select each group in the options panel. This makes it much easier to manage options, and it eliminates the need for a separate "items" form (items are now treated as options).
- Options Quick Reference – View an instant summary of all available options for a unit. See the price and description of available options for easy selection.
- Customizable Info Windows – Expandable and collapsable areas of the main form can be used to display a range of important details about your roster. These include composition profiles, army statistics, unit details, roster notes, etc.
- Model Images – Users can view images of models, either from the manufacturer website for a game or of their own painted models. Images can optionally be included in roster output.
- Skin Support – Custom skins can be created easily and distributed via the Updates mechanism. Users can switch between skins with a few mouse clicks.
- Compilation – Data files are compiled when first loaded by a user, after which subsequent loads are virtually instantaneous.
- Simplified Data File Authoring – The new engine is much easier to write data files for. This should translate into more users being comfortable writing/editing data files, faster development of files for games, and fewer bugs in those files.
- Print Preview – That pretty much sums it up.
- Foundation for Inventory Tracking – The new engine is designed to support inventory tracking of the models you own. Inventory tracking will not be implemented in V3.0, but the foundation is in place so that we can add it in a subsequent release.
- No More CD Hassles – The need for the CD key disc is eliminated, so the nuisance of finding and swapping CDs is a thing of the past.
- Language Translation – V3.0 has built-in support for language translation (western languages only). Both the product and data files can be readily translated.
- Customized Output – Tools for customizing roster output will be included, allowing rosters to be tailored to each game system.
New Licensing Technology
Army Builder V3.0 adopts a new licensing technology, similar to the one utilized in our established Card Vault product. Each license will be tied to a single computer. However, we realize that many users want to run Army Builder on a second computer (e.g. laptop, at work, etc.). So a free secondary license will be available to all licensed users.
Backwards Compatability
Army Builder V3.0 represents a complete rewrite. As such, the engine technology is vastly different from V2.x. While our goal is to ensure backwards compatability with existing data files, we are not yet sure whether this will be possible. If we cannot achieve full backwards compatability, we will work to facilitate conversion of existing V2.x data files to V3.0 through migration tools for data file authors. Further details on this will be announced once they are finalized.
Questions?
Please direct all questions about Army Builder V3.0 to us via email at ab3@wolflair.com.